Plus Belle La Vie
by Missed Nin
Summary: Gohan and Videl. Teenagers together. School life, drama, truth, lies and soap opera cliché as they get to know one another. Denial's a fact of life, and attraction after a certain point is undeniable. The question is: what do we do about it? Now complete.
1. Chapter 1

Edited 26/12/07

* * *

Videl was intrigued by Son Gohan. That didn't change the fact she wanted nothing to do with the dark-haired idiot. 

And ignore him she would. So when she retrieved his notes from the jocks who'd stolen them, she didn't even acknowledge his mumbles of gratitude. She'd left her hair down that day, and as she took her seat next to him she swung it over her face and blocked him from her sight. His face had looked puzzled and sheepish and tentatively happy. She didn't want to see it.

She'd like to think it hadn't been because there were well-groomed prep girls snickering about true love from the back row. That comment about her being beefier than him had had nothing to do with it. No, she just didn't like him.

Only, now she couldn't get rid of that face from her mind. She remembered it too well: he'd looked up at her with relieved dark eyes as she dropped his notes back on his desk. She'd sat down in the chair next to his (it was just how the seating plan had worked out, dammit!), and on hearing his soft voice, she'd averted her eyes, mouth set; teeth gritted. He hadn't taken the hint. So she'd snapped her head around to face Erasa, the motion swinging her hair forward. She used to do that all the time when she lost her temper - block out the world. Like that, no-one could see her cry. Nowadays her hair was shorted, but it still must have formed an impenetrable curtain between them.

"Thanks," he'd murmured, sheepish. She'd been able to imagine him was rubbing the back of his neck like a total dork, despite only having known him a few days. She remembered thinking how soft and idiotically ambivalent he was, and how he was stupid to let them walk all over him. _Why couldn't he have done something himself? Now I'll be hearing gossip for days!_

So she'd turned back to him, arms folded and voice as scathing as she could make it:_  
_

"I just dislike him more than you, nerd-boy."

She'd said it loud enough for everyone to hear. And they'd all laughed, and it must have been just as embarrassing for him as the jocks' jokes had been.

... No, she didn't feel proud of herself. The incident kept replaying in her mind. His face, soft and sheepish. Laughter. Mocking laughter.

He hadn't mentioned it again, but he'd looked confused when she chatted to him like normal at lunch. Confused and happy, a bit like a kicked puppy regaining confidence gradually.

Anyone would feel guilty, she told herself.

* * *

Gohan didn't understand girls, and didn't think he ever would. He kind of – but not really – liked Videl, though, even though she was Mr. Satan's daughter (which didn't matter) and rude, aggressive and incomprehensible (which did). She was interesting, and he didn't have anyone else to talk to at school. Well, only Erasa and Sharpener, and they were even more incomprehensible than she was, in a more awkward way. And any conversations between him and them tended to stall at the first hint of pop culture. Videl didn't like stuff like that, and she was entertaining and he was comfortable in conversation with her, most of the time. Except when he wasn't.

Videl's mood swings reminded him a bit of his mother, so even though they were alarming... well, it was almost nice to be able to count on someone commenting on his eating habits in a semi-familiar way.

He didn't really _like_ her, though. She was _– what's the word? _- volatile, something that Bulma called Vegeta. Gohan thought it applied to Videl better than it did the saiyan prince, because Vegeta was predictable in his anger, whereas Videl's (less destructive, but equally dangerous) rage was confusing and unpredictable.

When she wasn't angry per se - just disgruntled or indignant, which she often was - she still leant towards sarcasm and a brand of disillusioned cynicism that echoed a lot of Gohan's thoughts over the last year. Gohan enjoyed listening to Videl rant like that, no matter what the topic of her complaints. He agreed with her, empathised, and it built a rapport between them that was stronger than any connections he had with Sharpener.

So although Gohan didn't like Videl, she quickly became the nearest thing to a friend that Orange Star High School offered him.

* * *

"I mean, how is any of this stuff history? It's not history, I can _remember_ it happening. And looking through papers and analysing bias, how obvious can you get? Dr Sanchez isn't exactly unbiased, so how exactly can _he_ teach_ us_ to be impartial? He flat-out said he supported the new initiatives, and now he wants us to write a critique showing both sides of the argument over them, and gives me a D just because I showed one side a little bit more strongly?" 

"Let me guess which side you favoured," drawled Gohan, who had done as the question had asked and received a perfect grade. He'd been not had a problem with forgoing his own opinion, although his views on the matter matched Videl's.

They were sitting on the grass, and he was watching Erasa chase Sharpener, who was holding her hand-bag. He was trying to explore her make-up, and she was screeching in outrage. Videl would normally step in an break that kind of disagreement up, but she was particularly aggravated at their teacher, so she was leaving them to sort it out themselves.

Gohan didn't have to look to know how Videl's eyes had lit up triumphantly at the invitation to continue ranting, and she jumped predictably on her companion's rhetorical question: "Precisely! The pro-reduction arguments, and just because he thinks global warming is a load of bullshit--! Even if he was just saying I didn't do the question as asked, he had no right to say that! _'I advise you lean towards your father's example, miss Satan'_" - she mimicked a voice, high and viciously - "-Well if he leans any further towards my father's example it'll take surgery to extract his head from my dear dad's arsehole!"

Gohan smiled slightly, and hoped not too many of the teachers on the field had heard her say that. The school was almost entirely funded out of the Satan family's pocket, and even Videl could be reprimanded for criticism of Hercule Satan. He himself had been carefully neutral on the topic of the man. However flamboyant the man was, he was generous with his money, making donations toward schools and charities.

Besides, the man's shameless self-publicising had saved the Son family from any kind of investigation, which Gohan was grateful for. If anyone had asked Vegeta for information, far too many many secrets would be revealed by the prince's arrogance.

Videl was verbally dissecting Professor Sanchez, their teacher for world history, and Gohan half-listened, letting his thoughts drift back to speculation.

* * *

Erasa first got the idea that Videl really did have an interest in Gohan when Videl made the mistake of correcting her friend's assumption that Gohan was as scrawny as he was nerdy. 

The conversation, which Videl would brood over and deny ever having taken part in, took place after Sports – the two were always last to leave the changing rooms, because Erasa insisted on cleansing her face and reapplying her make-up from foundation up, while Videl waited resignedly - and went like this:

"Well, if you and Gohan were to get together now-"

"-Because that's going to happen," Videl said sardonically, "I'd honestly rather date a monkey!"

"Sure, Videl. But if you did, you could get him some actual clothes, make him get into shape a bit. Sharpener would drag him along to boxing lessons if I asked him nicely... And if I told Gohan you weren't allowed to date geeky kids..."

"Erasa, that is stupid in so many ways." Videl said sharply, leaning against the radiator in the changing rooms. She put her books down, and cleared her throat before reeling them off: "For one, I'm never going to date him. He's a friend, and if I talk to him alone it's because you two run off together at any opportunity. I'm allowed to have intelligent conversation every now and then, even if _you're_ happy twittering about cosmetics constantly. So – no way would the scenario of us dating ever come up. And second, he's not the type to be impressed by my father, that's half the reason I like him. Third - he's not got a bad figure, and if I wanted to dress someone up, I'd buy a doll."

"No - wait wait wait _wait_!"

Videl raised an eyebrow.

"He had, and I quote," Erasa waved a mascara brush at her friend like a conductor's baton, "'Not got a bad figure'. Looking, are we?"

Videl got to her feet, indignant: "I'd notice with anyone. Spending so much time in a gym, you have to gain some kind of understanding about build and muscle structure. That's all!"

"Ah, red in the face!" Erasa grinned like a pop-star shark, or possibly a sadistic matchmaker, "Sooo, you do consider Son Gohan hot stuff."

"Arg, I do _not_!"

"That's what they all say!" Erasa mocked, and swung her hand-bag over her shoulder, walking out of the changing room. Videl picked up her backpack and ran after her, threatening retribution if Erasa dared to spread _any_ kind of rumour.

* * *

But really, she thought later, in the privacy of her own helicopter on the way home from school, she hadn't said anything that wasn't obvious. 

And that wasn't the whole of the issue of Gohan's suspicious lack of geekitude. It was the little hints that had made more of an impact on her: Gohan avoided physical contact, never, ever started anything that could turn into a fight. Nerd behaviour to a tee, but somehow Videl could tell that all the hesitancy the Son boy displayed whenever someone tried to start something with him wasn't fear. He didn't know what to do in those situations, but – around the bullies and jocks, particularly when it was someone else on the spot – it seemed like he was_ restraining_ himself, not panicking. When he panicked, it was for other reasons.

She couldn't mention that to Erasa, though. There'd be comments about stalkers, about seeing no evil in the eyes of your intended. And – he was_ not! _Videl thought, jaw clenched. He was just _interesting_, and about the only other person in the year who could hold a conversation about something other than teenage life. He knew even less than her about the kind of trashy pop music in the charts, had never seen any of the films Erasa wittered about, and ... Actually, that was suspicious as well. He didn't live in the city, she knew that, but where did he live? He'd never seen adverts, and... overall he really did show the kind of ignorance of someone who'd been living under a rock for the last century.

And – Videl came back to that embarrassing conversation with Erasa - she didn't have to '_like_ him' like him to notice he was well built. He wore pretty shapeless clothes, yes, but the lay of the fabric revealed that he had a well-developed upper body, and his arms were solid. He wasn't chubby, and no-one with any observational skills or basic knowledge of muscle structure would think so (she thought primly). That didn't mean she thought he was _hot_, dammit Erasa.

Even if... --

_-- Okay, that's enough!_

Satan Videl was not going to spend her afternoon speculating about Son Gohan. And she was certainly not going to spend it imagining him with a hair-cut and a shirt that fit him.

...She wasn't!

* * *

About the time Erasa stopped claiming to 'fancy' Gohan (thank god, because those kind of declarations scared the boy even more than his mother's hints about daughters-in-law and grandchildren), she started hinting at a relationship between Gohan and Videl. 

_What? _Gohan thought, before starting to think about it logically.

_At schools, there seems to be a thing about people going off together. People think they're a couple, like in books. Well, they do when it's a girl and a boy on their own. ... It must be because everyone at school is a teenager. And teenagers do this whole 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend' thing, which is like getting married or having sex. Only it isn't, because we're younger. And there's no hitting people with frying pans or threatening to withdraw meals and complaining about training or stuff. Or whatever normal married people do._

_No, it's more like they act like people the hermit Roshi watches on television, only... less naked and more embarrassed._

Gohan was getting uncomfortable thinking about sex. He was at that kind of age, and he'd missed out on the kind of explanatory conversations people have about this kind of thing, although he had a fairly good idea... He forced himself to return his thoughts to Videl and keep them away from 'sex and Videl' and definitely away from 'sex with Videl'. Right, Videl, but _no sex._

_Anyway, girlfriends and their boyfriends go off on their own to do that kind of stuff. And so when me and... when Videl and I _(he corrected himself, because even in interior monologues Chichi considers good grammar important, and she'd passed those values down to her son)_ go off on our own, they think we're doing that. 'Making out'. And Videl's told them we weren't doing that, but I guess... it'd be embarrassing to admit it if we were. So they think she's lying. And – of course we aren't kissing and stuff, she's scary!_

_This is why school seemed scary_, he thought pathetically. _The people. I don't have social skills so I don't know how to tell them we're just friends._

_And we are just friends, aren't we? She's pretty, but she doesn't seem like a girlfriend kind of person. She complains about stuff like that, and she hates it when Erasa talks like that, so. No boyfriends for Videl._

_If she did want a boyfriend, would it be me?_

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

Videl watched Gohan. She watched him as closely as she could without provoking either his suspicions or Erasa's, and she watched him constantly. It wasn't because she found him attractive – most of the time, she didn't really think he looked much better or worse than any other male. It was just because he kept secrets.

Gohan wasn't good at lying – he'd flail around when asked a question he didn't want answer. It worked to keep suspicions away surprisingly well, but only because he was stunningly ignorant of the most normal things. He responded to questions about things like favourite bands or manga serieses in the same way he answered things he actually was hiding (like 'where do you live', or 'why do you never join in in Sports', both of which Videl was very interested to find out). With practice, Videl learned to decipher his muddles of denials and apologies and 'um's and 'ah's, until she could tell if he was trying to conceal information.

A good way to investigate his secret, Videl decided, was to investigate the seeming contradiction in his nerdy behaviour and physical fitness. To do so, she sacrificed her opportunity to single-handedly humiliate the other girls in her year (usually, Sports was the highlight of her day), and exploited her father's reputation to get herself a chance to watch the boy's basketball lessons, on the premise that she was looking for candidates for a team ran by her father. It made her sick to watch the coach fawn over her as soon as she mentioned his name, but she ignored him. He soon left to inform the class's jocks about their amazing chances.

They'd be disappointed. She was here to watch Gohan.

Son Gohan emerged from the changing rooms wearing what must have been the baggiest T-shirt in existence, along with unfashionable tracksuit bottoms that were pulled up too high on his waist. But even though the t-shirt's arms went down to his elbows, and the material was loose around his chest, she watched as he folded his elbows behind his head and saw his forearms ripple with well-defined muscles.

_So, we have a problem to solve. Are you going to act the nerd for fun, or is there some other issue here? _

The game started, and she watched the intriguing figure of Gohan intently. He backed away to a defence position, and watched the game fairly calmly, staying out of it. Hmm, whenever the ball came to his side of the court, he started backing away. No hand-eye coordination, maybe?

But -_no_. When a stray throw came in his direction, she clearly saw him shift his feet, angling himself to catch it. It was a split-second movement, one that told of trained reflexes. But then he took two hurried steps back, waving his arms as if attempting to catch it.

A lanky player from Gohan's team jerked his head viciously back to speak to the Son boy, already running off pursuit of the opponent who'd caught the ball. He hissed some kind of an insult, and Gohan cowered away, hands in the air as if to placate the taller boy.

Videl wanted to shout at her friend to grow a spine. She wanted to slap the jock, and she wanted even more to shake Gohan and force him to stand up for himself._ Why's he acting so pathetic? _

Gohan looked over at her, then, as if the force of her anger had sent him a signal. He brushed the back of his neck, smiling in an (almost endearing, the part of her brain that occasionally listened to Erasa said) sheepish way.

She shifted in frustration. _Damn enigmatic Gohan... _

* * *

Videl started making pointed comments, Gohan noticed. They were often about things like the 'bullies' who insulted him, and how he should say stuff back at them.

But he never knew what to say – they were only people, he couldn't tell them to stop because they didn't really listen to things like that. And he couldn't stop them by force – they weren't hurting anyone, and the point of this school thing was from him to be normal. Normal would not be him throwing them into wall with no apparent effort, and even if he had thought that would be a good solution, his mother would probably disagree on the grounds of unfair advantages.

He'd had a conversation with Videl about normality, under the tree that was quickly becoming their habitual place. It was _theirs_.

"So what made you think you should come here after so long?" (She'd asked.)

"Well... I guess I wanted to be socially normal," Gohan said, smiling. Videl understood about socially normal, and she'd understand that he was saying it with a touch of irony.

"You poor thing. You can't have had any idea what you were getting into..."

She was smiling back at him, a mischievous look – her eyes were dark and glinting, curved by her expression, and her white teeth were revealed by the amused twist of her mouth.

Then she shook her head, letting out a little sarcastic chuckle.

"If my family lived in the middle of nowhere in quiet solitude,"

She stretched her arms over her head, and a lock of hair slipped forward alongside her neck, ending in a curl between her breasts. Gohan looked away, but her voice was husky as she continued, and he felt the impact of her words deeply as she told him: "I'd stay there forever..."

"It's – not all that great." Gohan said after a moment (feeling a little overwhelmed by her, and distracting himself by talking), and involuntary self-pity coloured his voice, "I didn't have anything to do but think and study, and neither of those makes a good distraction from the other."

"I guess that's true. Everyone thinks I'm lucky, and they're not that far wrong. I mean – if you think about it, I've benefited from my dad in getting the education I want, being allowed any excuses, having all the stuff I want, the helicopter, for instance." she sighed, before continuing sardonically: "it's like you say – not all that great, however it sounds to other people."

"Yeah..."

They sat quietly, Gohan looking out over the field, Videl with her head tipped back to watch the shifting leaves.

* * *

Gohan wasn't normal, and Videl got frustrated with him for how he acted about it. She could tell what he was doing, even if she wasn't sure _why_: he was hiding. She was upfront about her own abnormality, taking pride in her reputation in a lot of ways. People who knew her at school knew her as Videl, independent and tough. The class speculated on whether she was a lesbian, had long since agreed that she was a 'frigid bitch'. And she knew it, and accepted it, and was glad that she wasn't her father's daughter here.

But Gohan was evasive, in a way that was more subtle than she'd initially though, even if he was becoming disgustingly transparent to her. Whenever Erasa had inquired into where he lived, he'd dodge the question. As to how he got there – he didn't even lie, he just didn't answer.

She'd tried to be patient, even joined Erasa in trying to be sly in her inquiries. They'd followed him, but he'd shown an almost preternatural capacity for guessing where they were at any time, and they'd lost him in Orange Star City.

She had to admit by now she liked him; he was interesting, soft and understanding, mysterious, fit, attractive, and ...

No – interesting. _Interesting,_ Videl told herself. She was not going to falling head-over-heels for a strange timid boy. She was independent, strong. Satan Videl despises weak women, the kind who try to chat up her father and giggle and simper, the kind who society trains from age zero on soft toys and girly magazines and make-up. The kind who 'fancy' boys, who 'crush' on them and who lose all their ability to think in the presence of males. Videl was not going to turn into Erasa and giggle about how handsome Son Gohan's eyes are and how hot he'd look with his hair shorter (or at least not flopping on either side of his face like greased spaghetti, with far too much gel keeping it down. Who gels their hair down, anyway?).

Videl realised her train of thought had stopped off at that station for far too long. She mentally kicked herself, and moved sharply on.

He was strange and kept secrets, so she'd solve the mystery and prove he wasn't interesting after all. And she wouldn't be interested any more.

* * *

Gohan wasn't even doing anything sneaky when Videl cornered him, but her stare made him feel kind of guilty anyway.

A week had passed since their conversation under the tree, and he'd been very aware of her ever since. She watched him a lot, in a careful, interested way that made him feel like she knew everything about him. He could picture that expression, dark eyebrows lowered just the slightest fraction of an angle, emphasising her stunningly blue eyes. It was a cool look, one that was not in the slightest ashamed of its staring. And it was perceptive – he didn't have an excuse for why he wouldn't say how he got home, and when he fumbled to explain it away she'd look at him like that and he'd think 'I can't go on like this'. He knew he couldn't.

He'd started to enjoy school with her for company – started to get more comfortable in classes of people his own age (even though they didn't know half as much about the subjects as he did and hadn't faced _nearly_ half of the things he had.) But he wasn't relaxed in school, because he was lying to his class-mates – no, lying to Videl – and that meant he wouldn't really be able to enjoy life. She and Erasa had followed him after school on two or three occasions, trying to find out about him, and he knew Videl wanted the truth and nothing less.

But – what could he do? Telling her that truth... the idea scared him.

But when she cornered him and pushed for an answer, he was just as scared to lie.

It was after school had let out for the day, and Erasa had waited for Videl at the doors of the class she and Gohan had shared.

"There's a BBQ at Rubera's today, we're inviting you two!"

Videl frowned, "Us two? We're not a _couple,_ Erasa."

"Oh, so that's why you spend every lunch together, because you're not connected at all. Silly me, I guess it's just my blondeness..."

(Incidentally, Gohan had never experienced the cultural stereotype that blond people were stupid before his time at Orange Star High School, and he'd spent quite some time speculating on it in regards to his family and the mental capacities of Saiyan-kind... )

"God, you're awful. What time is it on, if we were to theoretically attend?"

"We'll go straight from school, it'll finish about eight-ish, because last time her folks got all mad at her about the people that crashed out on the patio. Apparently someone fell in her pond and..."

She kept talking, bemoaning the loss of her friend's fish to alcohol, vomit and human incompetence, and her friend's mother's anger. The character of the angry mother reminded him of his own mom, who would hold even stricter views. But even Gohan was partly in agreement with the disapproval Erasa and friends had faced. He didn't like the sound of these drunken parties people talked about – why would you want to get drunk and lose control of your actions? It sounded stupid and embarrassing and dangerous. Chichi would disapprove, even though she had told him to stay over at a friend's house after school if invited. Insisted that he did, in fact. She'd been proud that he'd found class-mates he could empathise with, and he had the feeling she thought education was a kind of therapy for him.

He sighed, not that either of them noticed. He was tempted to just leave and go home, even if the idea of going somewhere with them was tantalising. Despite his better judgement he stayed to hear Videl's responses.

He should really have gone with his better judgement.

"Well, you suck at forward planning," Satan's daughter stated, "But I'll come along, I suppose. Would you be okay to get home, Gohan?"

She asked sweetly, but her eyes were focussed like a predator's.

"Ah- well, um. I have to be home in time to help my mom cook, actually. I'd best -" he backed away, giving a smile "give this one a miss, I'm afraid."

Videl took a step towards him. Her eyes were compelling, and there was a certain edge to them. That look made him think of Super Saiyan eyes, eyes that held the same determination. Gohan felt a drop of nervous perspiration run down his the side of his face, and she was still giving him that focussed look. He stepped back, which meant he was actually back inside the classroom they'd just left. His hands found the door-frame, and he held on to it as if it'd ward her off.

"You don't want to learn to socialise? Son Gohan, I'm disappointed."

She sounded more than a little scornful, and he supposed she knew he'd lied. He felt himself sagging, disappointed in himself and at her own disappointment.

She'd stuck her nose up, looked down at him in a haughty manner she normally reserved for brushing off classmates she disliked. It felt impersonal.

"I could give you a lift home, if it's an issue."

Oh, she hadn't given up, then. Gohan didn't know whether he was pleased or not. He didn't know how to answer.

"No – it's not that, it's just that... It's my mother, she's strict about this kind of thing."

It came out wrong; he'd told her about Son Chichi, and... it wasn't going to work. He felt miserable, and he just wanted to leave. Flying back home would calm him down, he'd think of what to do then.

She leaned in towards him, and her eyes didn't look as intimidating now, though they were still intense.

Her face was near – so near. He could smell her, see how her hair fell (the lock that hung in front of her face curled around, because she'd twisted it around her finger, the rest hung back, heavy and kinked where it'd been in a ponytail). He could see the fibrils of colour in the irises of her eyes, the lashes that had never seen a mascara-brush, the tightness of tension in her face, the way her eyes were bright and widened.

But - she was hurt. Emotionally hurt. He realised it from their closeness, the tightness of her features – eyes bright and angry and verging on tearful.

_Shit_. He panicked, but couldn't think of anything to do to make it better. His fists tightened around the door-frame, and for a long moment they stared at each other.

"Fine."

-Videl said, then turned and hurried away, calling back to Erasa - "I've got an assignment due for tomorrow, anyway!"

And he watched her go, unhappily.

He'd crushed the two sections of the door-frame he'd been gripping to pulp, and he knew he needed to fix them – Videl would notice, and wonder. (So he ended up late to get home anyway, after having to make replacement sections with a lathe and painting them.) He felt utterly depressed, and for the first time in his life the concerns occupying his mind were those of teenagers – how to explain things to girls, how to make things up to girls.

He decided, flying home, that he needed someone to talk to.

* * *

In the safety of her bed-room, Videl wondered what the hell she'd been thinking. She'd totally over-reacted. Gohan had been making excuses, yes, but he did that a lot. She'd felt betrayed by him, almost.

She sank down on her bed, making a face.

_Totally. Over-reacting._

_I don't need him to trust me_, she told herself, but she wished he would anyway.


	3. Chapter 3

Gohan still hadn't decided what he felt about the whole situation by the time he got back – in fact, he wasn't even sure what the situation was. Naturally, his mother picked up on this as soon as she saw him. It was like, mother's sixth sense.

"Honey, do you want to tell me about your day?" Chichi asked. She sounded casual, but in fact she'd been fretting about Gohan; after all, he was been late back.

"Uh, yeah, actually," Gohan took a seat in the kitchen, and his mother bought him a cup of tea and a generous slice of cake.

"Well, the thing is, Erasa invited me and-- I mean, _Videl and I _to this barbecue. But I declined because -" he scratched his neck in embarrassment, then told himself he needed to stop doing it. The story sounded stupid in retrospect. "Well, because I'd have to tell them how I got home... Videl's been trying to find out, you know. But..."

He awkwardly recounted the exchanges between himself and Videl.

"So she knows I'm lying, I'm certain of it. But I don't know how I can stop her from being angry without telling her the truth, and – I shouldn't do that, should I?"

"My poor dear, you sound all grown up..." Chichi replied.

_Well _that's_ a helpful statement_, Gohan thought, gulping down the now-cool tea. The cake was long gone, and he looked mournfully at the empty plate for a second before deciding there were more important things to bemoan. _It's easy for mom to say, she doesn't have to try and act normal despite everything, she doesn't have to think of a way to explain her ability to fly more than 300 miles to and from school every day._

He groaned and buried his face in his hands, and Chichi came to sit beside him.

"It's a lose-lose situation. If I tell her everything, she'll- I don't know what she'll do. And I can't tell her some of it – she's too clever and persistent to allow that, and Mr. Satan's her father, so... It'd be easier for her not to know, wouldn't it?"

"Listen, Gohan." It was a calm voice that Chichi used, a gentle one that invited him to look into her eyes and let her take responsibility. He looked at his smiling mother, and was transported back to a time before Saiyans and Cell, when he'd believed that Son Chichi was the cleverest and strongest person in the world.

"Do you think someone like your Videl would really believe Hercule - 'Mr. Satan'? Even if she is his father, she sounds like a no-nonsense kind of girl, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if you find that there's going to be a lot less telling of harsh truths to be done than you think."

"So - you think I should tell her?"

"Of course, Gohan. I told you to keep your powers hidden from the school at large, not from your girlfriend! How can you bring her to meet me if she doesn't know you can fly?"

Gohan choked on something, then spoke with innocent outrage: "Mo-_ mom!_ She's not my gi-girlfriend!!"

Chichi smiled beatifically. "Of course, dear. Now would you go and check on Goten quickly, before getting a start on your homework? He's learnt to crawl, and I suspect the little scamp's got out of his playpen..."

Gohan had no choice but to obey.

* * *

For the second time in her life, Videl phoned Erasa to ask for advice. The first time had been the frightened Saturday afternoon she'd realised her period had started (this had been before the magnanimous employment of a maid, who could explain such things). That had been the event that cemented the two girls' friendship as something valuble – Erasa never once mentioned Videl's panic to another girl in her gossipy group.

Not to say that this was the second phone call between the two – Erasa called frequently, to discuss her own boy troubles, to discuss Videl's lack of the same, or to ask for help on homework, plan outings, persuade Videl to attend some event or other. But this was the first time Videl had initiated a conversation outside school hours.

"E_rasa_ speaking!" The bubbly voice made Videl cringe. Erasa was in the kind of mood that led to giggling and mockery. Not ideal for heartfelt advice.

"Heya," Videl greeted in return, resisting the urge to put the phone down. She needed to talk, or she'd brood about it. About him.

"Sooo, what's up? This is an unusual event, ne?"

How did you start a conversation about 'boy stuff'? Generally they happened anyway, in Videl's experience.

"Is it about you and Gohan?"

Oh, that was how they started. All she had to do was say yes, but she could imagine what her blonde friend's face would look like. Triumphant I-knew-it glossy grins played across Videl's vision, and she ground her teeth together before remembering _she'd_ made the call, and she _wanted_ to have this conversation.

"Pretty much, Erasa."

Giggles rang across the phoneline.

"Look, I-" Videl started, but she wasn't sure how to continue.

"You feel bad about giving him evils, right?"

'Evils', her evil stare. Erasa was convinced that her best friend had magic powers of death-glaring, or something, and she often accused Videl of giving such looks. Videl, naturally, denied any knowledge of such a stare, despite the fact she'd examined it in the mirror before now and was secretly proud of the stare's renown.

"But you're too stubborn to apologise," Erasa continued, all too accurately, "And you've spent all afternoon sulking about it, I suppose. You should really have come to the barbecue; it was a laugh. And – see – I'm not drunk."

"You're asking me to 'see' over the phone, Erasa." Videl said in her most-obviously-joking voice. Erasa wasn't the most observant person in the world when it came to distinguishing jokes from seriousness, not over the phone.

"Yup," Erasa was unconcerned, "So – let's talk about Gohan." There was the sound of movement, and Videl could tell that her friend had settled down for a nice long chat.

"Yeah. It bothers me that he keeps secrets, that's it really," Videl told her, feeling slightly foolish, "It bothers me a lot, to be honest."

"He's weird about stuff like that, yeah. So you think he was lying about his mom wanting him back early?"

"I'm sure of it. He told me his mom thinks it's good for him to go to school – she got worried about him having been taught at home all the time, because it's just her teaching him and he needs to spend more time with other people.

"His mom's the only person that's taught him? She must be really clever!"

"Apparently some other guy tutored him for a year when he was a kid. But he was too weird or something and she didn't like him. So I guess that led to massive paranoia and a lack of faith in the school system that's lasted until now. Or something."

"Mmm, okay. But why would he lie, we ask ourselves? Team Videl and Erasa," (Erasa was all too amused by this, Videl thought) "let us discover the fascinating truth of Gohan!"

"I've spent the last three weeks trying to do that, and it's got me nowhere except to the sad and pathetic point where I can tell you facts like who's taught him what and when."

"That's no reason to give up on him! So why would he lie? Tell me, Vi."

"I'm pretty sure it's because he doesn't want us to know how he gets back home."

"But why would you keep that a secret? Hold on, I'm just putting the phone down to open my yoghurt..."

They talked.

* * *

After breakfast, but before leaving for school, Gohan sat at the dinner table sorting through his books. His mother came to join him.

"I think I'll tell her today, mom."

"Good boy," Chichi said, and Gohan frowned slightly, "I'm over at Bulma's this afternoon, I'm taking Goten over. I'll leave a pie and the rest of the cake on the side for you, but you're not allowed anything else, and I mean anything."

Gohan muttered something about the unfairness of food being reserved.

"You could come with us, I'm sure Bulma would be pleased to see you."

"Vegeta." Gohan countered darkly. The short, angry Saiyan was a better reason to stay away than the scientist was a reason to go.

"Oh come on, it's not like he's around all that much."

This was true, but Gohan's increasing reluctance to visit Capsule Corporation was still almost entirely due to Vegeta. The older Saiyan mostly ignored him, but on occasion he would decide Gohan was being unreasonable by not training in martial arts, and when that happened, Gohan found himself dragged to the Gravity Room and engaged in brutal sparring for far longer than he wanted.

"I've got an assignment to finish, anyway." There, that was a valid excuse. Gohan was proud of himself.

"Then_ why _didn't you do it last night?"

Gohan scowled. Because he'd been preoccupied with the problem of Videl, and thinking up ways to explain his family, heritage, and history. It wasn't something easily done.

He got up, bag packed and shoes on.

"I'm sure she'll understand, Gohan." Chichi said expectedly, "If she's right for you, it'll work out just fine."

Gohan, who'd turned away, looked back and nodded. He realised what his mother had said, and choked. Then called for kinto'un, the family's main method of transportation.

* * *

Videl came to school with a new resolution – she was going to stop spending so much time with Gohan. She and Erasa had analysed him for an hour, and gotten nowhere. Whatever his secrets and issues were, it was only he who could say. The chances of that seemed slim, after the way he'd brushed off the invitation yesterday. Erasa thought he'd come round, but Videl doubted it. Gohan had confessed some of his concerns about school, some about life in general, but that'd been in abstract, as it were. Whatever he didn't want to tell them was something specific, something that made him hide his way to and from school. Something serious, Videl was sure.

Erasa thought Videl cared for Gohan in more than a platonic way:

"Your problem is, you haven't given him any sign you like him. He doesn't know that your non-scary stare-y look means 'I consider you hot stuff'."

"That's because it doesn't." Videl said, but not in an angry way. She'd mellowed out over the course of the discussion.

"I believe you," Erasa said lazily and not at all sincerely, "But really, he looks at you like that too. And I caught him reaching to touch your hair when Mrs Blakebord sat you in front of us for talking, too."

She sounded supremely pleased with this. Videl... didn't know what to think. _Why would he do that?_

"Speechless, huh? You had your hair in a pony-tail 'cause it was after gym. I dunno what he thinks is nice about your hair, mine's far more stylish."

"Because Gohan clearly has great concerns about fashion," Videl said sarcastically. This was a boy who had been known to wear sleeveless _waistcoat _things. Not exactly _à__ la mode_.

"S'pose so. Still, doesn't everyone want to be blond?"

"And dumb?"

"You're the one who insists you're 'just friends' with him... Hello? I found you the only cute geek in the whole year, and you're squandering my match-making efforts by being boring!"

Videl glared at herself in the mirror. Well, at the reflection of the phone. She wasn't angry at herself for any squandering, no sirree!

"Videl, I expect you to be friendly to him tomorrow. He's nice and cute and geeky, and that adds up to 'too shy to make up with an angry Videl'. So you have to at least be not-angry."

"What if I don't want to?"

"But the thing is: you do."

"I don't." Videl said, slowly and unconvincingly.

"Anyway, I've got to get off the phone. Not all of us have separate landlines in their house. Well, ciao!"

Videl had said goodbye, feeling like everything was still unresolved.

She'd gone to bed without feeling particularly tired; feeling, in fact, the lethargy which comes from a total inability to focus one's thoughts. She couldn't decide what her feelings for Gohan were, because they were ambiguous and her view tilted one way or another depending on who she was talking to and what she was thinking of.

She'd eaten breakfast with their cleaner, Juliet. Juliet had asked what Videl had been 'mooning over', used to seeing the girl take a run round the grounds before eating in the morning, and surprised by Videl's inactivity.

"It's who." Videl had said, _not what._

"A boy, then?" Juliet had looked up, face bearing an unexpected expression of vicarious interest in gossip.

"Not – I..." Videl hadn't meant to say anything, but she felt an urge to confide in the friendly woman, "Kind of. I don't _like_ him, but I like him. As a friend. But people think we're closer than we are, and he doesn't seem to think we're as close as I thought we were..."

"Sounds like a mess." the cleaner said pragmatically, "And if I were your age, I'd say that the best thing to do would be to stay out of it and let them all reconsider their positions."

Videl nodded thankfully, downing the last of her coffee and heading off.

* * *

Gohan flew to school. He'd sit under the tree with Videl, and he'd volunteer the truth. He'd ask if she wanted to know, and he'd tell her all of it, and she would hardly believe it, and he'd pick her up and they could fly. Anyone would calm down and forgive him, flying through the clouds.

* * *

Videl watched the roads of the city from her helicopter, cars like beetles and all moving along regular tracks. She would talk to other people, stay close to Erasa. She would show Gohan that his stupid secrets meant nothing to her, and she didn't need to have anything to do with him.

* * *

Hehe, mixed feelings. Is Gohan going to get to say his piece? Is Videl going to succeed in her quest for distance? Please review, that nice lilac button feels lonely down there, and feedback makes me squeal in joy and write more! 


	4. Chapter 4

Gohan arrived early at school, even more so than was normal for him. His flight had taken him to an unattractive park on the edge of the city, and he'd walked the rest of the distance. Normally the walk took twenty minutes, but he was too nervous to amble in at the leisurely pace he normally used for the journey. He hurried, periodically slowing down and speeding up again. He wanted to get to school earlier, but the thought of arriving and sitting still and waiting for her made his stomach twist in sheer gut-wrenching anxiety. That made him stop, reconsidering and panicking with thoughts dashing around. Moving faster and faster calmed him down, but not enough. His mind wouldn't let him relax; it was writing and rewriting conversations with Videl.

He reached the home-room ten minutes before school started. It was deserted, but there was nowhere else to go and nothing else to do. So he took his place at the table, next to Videl's seat. He sat fastidiously straight against the chair, subduing thoughts. He was convinced it was a bad idea to have this conversation, he didn't know Videl well enough to know what she'd say, whether she'd laugh or end their friendship or panic at him or what. He wasn't confident enough to be given the responsibility to explain this, not on his own.

He waited, back stiff and straight. He tried not to be anxious, but he couldn't help noticing whenever someone approached the room. Normally, he ignored the ki-energy he could sense, but today he was waiting for someone; waiting for Videl. He was hyper-aware, he was anticipating and fearing her arrival. Every person that came within a half-mile radius registered in his mind, and he'd flinch as soon as someone entered that range. People scurried to and fro like ants, more and more of them coming towards the school.

The first person to enter the room was a reserved, dark-haired, bespectacled boy. He walked with long steps, and each movement made the long straps of his rucksack swing from side to side. Gohan had looked up despite knowing it wasn't Videl (her ki was brighter), and his eyes followed the boy from the entrance to the room to the far corner of it. The new arrival swung his backpack off and under his table, as he removed a hardback book, leant his chair against the wall, pulled it out and then started to read.

Gohan didn't know anything about the boy. Normal people all looked similar to him; almost all of the school blurred into a homogeneous mass. The Flock, Videl called her peers. She said they were like sheep, blindly chasing fashions and ideals set by the long tradition of the School Hierarchy of Cool. Gohan was fairly sure this was an exaggeration, and he might normally have asked the boy what he was reading. But today was the day he would talk to Videl.

Videl's name wasn't just a name in his mind any more. It was an identity, a face framed by two bunches of hair, blue-azure eyes with delicate lids and naturally thick lashes. He imagined her turning to look at him, eyes intense. He imagined her face close to his, focused on him.

Their eyes meeting.

The image was real in his mind, and it took his thoughts off his wait. He wasn't bothered by the time passing, although the boy who'd arrived early and who'd been sitting in the corner reading got more and more agitated. A girl came in, and sat touching up her make-up, lips tight in aggravation. She produced a mobile phone and made a call, and her voice annoyed Gohan as she complained about her mother insisting on them leaving early to avoid the rush. She wittered, bitched, and generally moaned, then the call ended abruptly. The girl was wearing heels, and as she kicked the chair in front of her in annoyance, one of them fell off. Her voice seemed weird to him.

Gohan had been trying to hold on to the image of Videl in his mind. He hadn't realised how different from other girls she really was – well, he had, but he hadn't appreciated it. This girl was high-voiced and intrusive. As she got up and retrieved her shoe, hissing in aggravation, he examined her: her skin was painted over with concealer, her eyelashes covered in black pigment that glued the fine hairs together. The lashes were stuck in an unnatural curve upwards, and lumps of the black fluid had coagulated, sticking to them. Her eyelids were painted an umber shade that was too dark for her skin tone; her deep brown hair had almost-blonde highlights that were too light for it.

Videl was beautiful without trying to be.

* * *

Videl couldn't be angry without trying to be. Commuting to school through the congested sky of Herculeopolis she found herself questioning her decision to ignore Gohan, questioning it obsessively. She'd flown over a woman leaning out of a window smoking, calling vapidly to a friend in the street. She'd found herself composing comments to make to Gohan about the idiocy of such an act.

He was more a part of her life than Erasa or Sharpener, now. Those two were reliable, tolerable, often (but not always) nice. Sometimes she felt grateful for them being her friends, felt admiration and caring for them. Not often. And... they weren't like her. They didn't understand her thoughts and opinions and quite often didn't even care. Gohan did, and she couldn't make herself angry at him.

Her thoughts vacillated. Erasa thought she _liked_ him, liked with a mocking knowing emphasis. Personally, Videl decided that though she only liked him as a friend she was getting too obsessed with him; he wouldn't leave her mind alone. She shouldn't like him because he lied and evaded questions. And... she wouldn't commit herself to caring more deeply for someone than they cared for her. That was stupid, doing that. You trap yourself.

She liked Gohan, but she needed to distance herself from him before she fell into the trap that was caring too much. Satan Videl is a strong woman. Satan Videl will not give any man that power over her, not even a sweet and gentle man.

* * *

Gohan's daydream of Videl rose in his mind and he relaxed unconsciously. When Videl moved angrily, she didn't flounce. When Videl was listening to something, ready to argue about it, she leant forwards. Her lips pursed together and her eyebrows lowered, her eyes kept a vigilant watch on the object of her interest. When they sat together under the tree, she ended up leaning towards him, her arm lightly touching his side and the ring holding her thick hair in its bunch would press against her cheek, emphasising the soft curve of it. She'd look up at the green canopy, and he'd look up at it with her. In his mind, a leaf falls and brushes her forehead, and the wind directs it onto her cheek. It rests, lodged between the heavy band around her hair and her skin. He reaches over, catching the leaf in two fingers, gently pulling it away. His thumb brushes her skin slowly, and she rolls her head to follow the motion, and her eyes are luminescent in a splash of sunlight. She blinks slowly, and tilts her head to his.

But then more people enter the room, a group of loud, aggressive boys. Jocks - chavs, Videl calls them. The derivation of this word is apparently debated, because Erasa had insisted the name was taken from a type of bird, while Videl's version of it's origins had been whispered into his ear: an acronym, Cees Hunt Any Victim. The C had stood for something as well, but she hadn't wanted to tell him what this was. Gohan hadn't been able to figure it out on his own, but he suspected it wasn't something socially acceptable.

The boys cluster around the girl, voices loud and mocking. Gohan feels himself cringe back from them and their crudity, wanting to go and tell them to shut up. _Videl's right, they're a herd of vicious insensitive idiots._

"It wasn't_ like_ that!" the girl yells at last, voice raw and high and agonising to hear, because the group had broken through her armour of make-up into her heart. Not touched a nerve so much as bulldozed through an entire trunk of neurones, into every one of the many vulnerabilities of an adolescent striving for status. Pushing her chair back, she flings herself around and dashes for the door, running awkwardly on her heels.

Half-out of the room, she can't help but turn back to rebut their accusations. Her voice cracks with her parting words: "I _loved_ him!"

The door swings shut after her. Gohan watches it.

* * *

Videl, had she been there, would have been cynical about that claim. Teenagers are known for overstating their emotions. But for Gohan the word 'love' seemed a novelty, and after the unknown girl's departure he found himself considering it very seriously, eyes returning to the girl's vacated chair and the handbag that'd been left there, to the lipstick that had rolled out onto the table. To love, in the sense of romantic love. The idea of this kind of love (and the accompanying theme of sex) hadn't preyed upon him as much as it has other teenage boys. His upbringing had been unusual not only in the fact that he'd been isolated, but also that he'd inherited a group of friends from his father, and never formed his own relationships. The idea of being friends with Videl had seemed scary and new, and telling her the secrets he'd kept from the world was even more terrifying. And those facts had overshadowed the other thing: that what he felt for her was more than affection, and what he wanted was more than friendship.

But... the girl's voice had raised the idea of love in his mind. It was new, strange to think about, but: _is that_, Gohan wondered,_ what I feel for Videl?_ The pictures of her that have been haunting his mind reappear in a whole new light, in a revelation: _I find her attractive. _

_Sexually attractive_, Gohan corrected himself, half-embarrassed by the sound of the words in his mind. They'd brought with them the concept of _sexual intercourse_, something he'd only really heard about in schoolwork. He knew the theory – (what goes where) _-_ but he doesn't really know _how_ the act would be achieved. Various leers from Roshi and comments by the kind of boy Videl hisses about and swears at have added pieces of information to his knowledge of sex, but he didn't have much of an idea as to how the act would be ... done. It was difficult to imagine, and he didn't think Videl would want to take part in such a thing.

Behind him, the boys had been laughing. Having moved to the back of the class-room, they'd been talking too loudly and too crudely about the girl who'd left in tears. She'd been to some kind of party last night, and done something with a younger boy she might not have meant to do so publicly. Gohan wanted to tell them to shut up, but he knew that'd cause trouble that he'd regret having caused, so he sat quietly. They kept talking, and their words broke in to his thoughts, creating confusing, disturbing, pictures.

* * *

Not long later, a rush of students entered, the majority of the class. Gohan felt glad for a second, before the emotion swirled back to a creeping nervousness.

And something was wrong – Erasa had headed over to him, waving, but Videl grabbed her arm and dragged her away.

The dark-haired girl went to the other side of the class from Gohan, sitting Erasa down by force in the seat next to the class-room wall, while taking the desk nearer to Gohan of the two. The half-saiyan waited for her to look at him, stupidly enheartened by her choice of seat, but Videl turned her chair around to face Erasa's, placing her back squarely to Gohan.

Normally, when Videl ignored someone she did so magnificently – lip curling at them before she swung herself away, eyes flickering back for a second to their faces, cool scorn in them. Her failure to give him that deliberate dismissal hurt. She hadn't even looked at him.

* * *

At break, Gohan met her eyes. She'd successfully avoided him until then, but doing so had made her unusually aware of him. She'd had to think about him, she'd found herself imagining looking at him and how terrible it would be to be caught out as the one hiding from him. Like hide and seek, like a game. She'd taken the games too seriously and trembled with tension (not fear, more like apprehension) while she'd hidden. This was like that – she was hyper-aware and keyed up, ready to fight.

So when he met her eyes she jumped, she felt a rush of emotions that she couldn't interpret. She'd hidden behind the school's greenhouse, a sadly neglected building. Erasa, had kept insisting she should talk to Gohan, so she'd evaded all her friends and sat with her back to this small building, staring into space. The greenhouse was out of sight from everywhere in the school, and she hadn't thought that he'd know it existed. But he was there, eyes narrowed and intent on her. She sat stunned by his presence, then got up in one shocked motion, bracing herself against the wall and then stepping away along it, heart suddenly beating fast. She'd been hiding, and she'd been caught out.

"Videl, I wanted to talk to you,"

He didn't sound angry. Maybe she'd been wrong, maybe his eyes hadn't been angry. Because his voice was patient, even supplicatory. It was certainly entirely reasonable, and she knew if Gohan talked to Erasa they'd both expect her to just make nice. She felt suddenly angry, without knowing why.

"Well maybe, Son Gohan," she replied in confident scorn, and she drew herself up as if she hadn't been hiding and had never felt startled and strangely weak in his gaze "You should have considered the fact that I _don't _want to talk to you."

And he retreated. Just like he did when anyone else verbally attacked him. His shoulders kind of hunched, he looked almost lost and definitely helpless.

"And why should I want to talk to you, when you lie?" She continued, because _he_ _was lying to her right now_, looking so mild and stupid, "You constantly hide, you're constantly telling cowardly little lies and running away from anything that might require you to show emotion! You just curl up and avoid from the real world, Gohan, you just back away and let other people throw their opinions around and nod and smile and_ hide_!

"So," she hissed, "why the fuck should I want to talk to you?"

She saw him move, something that was almost a flinch passing through him. But he concealed it, and only a flicker of motion that gave away the fact he'd felt any need to react. He shifted slightly and then stood still again, posture submissive, head raised slightly and eyes on her face. For a second he just watched her stare at him, face blank and kind of calm. Staying equally still, Videl glared. She'd insulted and shouted and sworn at him so why wasn't he reacting? What should she _do_ now? What else could she do?

Quite at once, he took a step towards her. She was drawn up like a snake, shoulders back and face forward, and yet he was taller than her. He'd never looked tall to Videl before. His mouth was curled in a kind-of smile, not at all like the huge grins or sheepish looks or wry expressions she normally saw. She wanted to move away and towards him at the same time.

"I'll stop hiding, if you want."

His face was sincere. How dare he just say that, ignoring every accusation she'd made? But even through her anger, part of her recognised that that look told her she'd lost the argument and missed the point. His words were in the carefully tolerant voice he used when she'd picked a fight with a teacher and he understood why she'd done it but thought it was pointless. So she knew it, she felt stupid for a second, like she was being childish. She felt ignorant, and she turned a bit red, blushing and suddenly feeling humiliated, indignant. This was an argument, and he wasn't allowed to just do that and opt out of the shouting match.

"Oh, stop hiding will you? _Now_ you deign to tell me things? Son Gohan will lower himself to explaining his secrets to us ordinary mortals, will he? You never give up _anything_ about yourself you don't actually say anything_ ever _that you care about do you? Do you even care about anything sincerely or do you just-!"

She would have continued. She was screaming in a raw, screechy voice, over-emotional in a way she hadn't been for years.

"Please."

...If he'd sounded patient, she would have either hit him or screamed in his face. But his voice was choked, and she stopped in her tracks.

"Listen, please, Videl-"

Him being scared – more than just shy, his voice was tearful – shocked her so much that she couldn't have spoken if she'd wanted to. His voice went on, thick with feelings, and she looked at him.

"-you shout at things you can't change, I know, and you shout at things you don't like and don't want to see. And... But, you don't need to shout, not at me, Videl. I'll answer all the questions you ask, I won't keep any more secrets from you, and I'll never tell you any more lies. Please?"

He was smiling, hopeful, tentative. His eyes weren't quite tearful, but when he looked at her it was hesitantly and she welcomed his look. A moment ago she'd been furious, and she would have been more so, but looking at him she knew she'd been lying. She was the one in the wrong here, and she found herself wanting to cry.

His words had hit home; she shouted at things she didn't like and didn't want. Her shouting was childish, and realising that she felt fragile. She'd already given him power over her; she couldn't even look at him. Tears welling in her eyes, she leant against the greenhouse wall, trying to avoid meeting his eyes. She didn't know why she was crying, didn't want to cry, but when she her throat was tight.

She made herself speak anyway, feeling a little bit like a guilty child and a lot like something else, someone else.

"Sorry, Gohan."

He reached out and put his arms around her. Her eyes were still lowered, she didn't want to look at him with a flushed face and red eyes, but he pulled her in and she decided it was all right. His body was warm, and she buried her face in his shoulder and half-laughed instead of crying, and didn't demand any explanations from him. She'd trust him.


	5. Chapter 5

A heartfelt thanks to G3rain1 for advice and con-crit. This is the last chapter, folks.

* * *

Gohan and Videl sat with their backs against the wall of the greenhouse, looking out at the fence and the dumpsters and the related junk hidden away at the back of the school. Not the most pleasant of settings; Gohan valued living in the countryside more than ever now he'd seen the alternative. But he and Videl were out of sight here, at least.

He'd followed her ki, feeling determined to talk to her and talk. Her anger had intimidated him, but he'd held his ground and said his piece.

And... she'd listened, hadn't she? She'd give him a chance now, surely?

Now, recovered from the confrontation, she was sitting beside him. Her hair lay over her face, concealing tear-tracks as she fumbled with her school bag. When she produced sandwiches and an apple from it, she offered him one without looking up or pushing the curtain of hair back. He caught a glimpse of reddened eyes anyway.

He didn't comment. The sandwich seemed to be a peace offering, and as such it was a good sign.

And surprisingly tasty, too.

Both of them were tired of talking, so they ate in silence. There was a heaviness to the situation, a sense this was the calm in the middle of the storm: an emotional lull.

At eleven o'clock, the bell's ring came as a surprise. Lessons seemed far away: had it only been twenty minutes since they'd sat in class, one determined to ignore the other and the other unaware of that determination? Still - not without reluctance - Gohan moved to get up. Missing a lesson was against the rules.

Videl tilted her head. The Satan heir was sitting with her arms resting on her raised knees, back curled, bag dumped on her lap. She had half a sandwich in her hand, but hadn't been eating it (his had long since gone). Her tear-stained face was pensive, and now visible - her hair had been parted to let her eat. She frowned at the bell.

"Can we stay and... talk?"

"Um, after school, maybe?" Gohan offered, rubbing the back of his neck. Her voice was uncharacteristically tentative, but: "We have Mr. Krayawn for History, and..."

Videl snorted. The ineffectual Krayawn's lessons tended to be dominated by the more obnoxious boys and whatever trouble they felt like causing.

Gohan shifted on his feet and looked towards the school building.

"Do we_ have _to?" Videl asked. She sounded more normal now, at least.

Shouting Videl was scary. Crying Videl, though... that had been far more horrible. Seeing helplessness at any time woke up all Gohan's sympathy and pity and concern, no matter who it was who was helpless. Seeing Videl reduced to tears had done that, and it had shocked him deeply as well. He'd never realised she was fragile.

Still; class.

The half-saiyan offered her a hand to get up.

She sighed.

"I don't want to go back there, Gohan. I really don't."

He looked concerned.

There was a long silence. Gohan stood waiting, his bag in one hand. Videl cracked.

"Gohan, maybe it's escaped your notice, but it's really obvious I've been crying. And if we're going to talk, what's wrong with doing it _now_?"

He wavered.

She... really didn't want to go back, though. And although he'd been thinking she'd calmed down, she'd didn't quite seem to have. Not properly. There was a reactive air to her, there was tension that hadn't vanished yet.

He shrugged, smiled at her in an attempt to be comforting. "Sure."

"Okay." She nodded, making the word decisive. "We'd better not stay here, then. They always look behind the greenhouse for skivers."

_Skiving? Oh, this was trouble..._

* * *

It had been humiliating, shouting at him and breaking down. Videl hated the helplessness of strong emotions, and she'd always told herself not to let things get like that, told herself to start fist-fights rather than shouting matches if she was that angry. But... this argument had been something different to the fruitless rows she'd had with her dad. It had told her something: why she was so angry at Gohan.

It hadn't been the little lies themselves. Those would have been almost funny, on their own: he'd panic because didn't recognise the name of a celebrity and couldn't say what his favourite manga character was. It was the reasons behind that clumsy concealment that upset Videl, the way she had no idea _what _was being concealed, or even what he really cared about.

Because, secretly, Satan Videl had quite an idealised idea of friendship: y_ou shouldn't lie or bank away from secrets when you're talking to someone you actually care for, friends shouldn't do that._ She'd confided in Gohan about her dad, although admittedly in a round-about way, and the way he'd paid her back for that kind of trust was by refusing to even admit he was hiding anything. That wasn't fair. And it was made worse by the fact they both did get on well with each other, so much that Videl would have said she really_ understood _him. If it wasn't for the lies.

And the truth of it is, Erasa was a great friend, but she couldn't ever empathise with Videl's frustration about her father. The blonde girl's ambition was to be a model, see: how could you expect her to see the problem with glory-seeking? Videl would always trust Erasa to be kind, to try and help, but the other girl was so fundamentally different to Videl that her advice would never really be what her friend needed to hear.

It had hurt when she realised how confident she'd was that Gohan would understand her feelings. She'd mentioned all her private resentments and dissatisfactions (the kind of things Sharpner would sneer at and Erasa would be confused by) almost by-the-way to him.

And now she realised he hadn't done that back. He'd turned away from the trust she gave him. At any questioning about his personal matters, he changed the subject. He flat-out ignored anything she asked. Why? Why couldn't he tell her? Why didn't he return her trust?

It was that unanswerable question that had built up in Videl's mind. That had driven her feelings of rage and rejection and hurt against him. But now... it was _that_ that he'd promised to resolve. He'd held her as she cried, gently, without making any comment or resenting the words she'd thrown at him. He'd promised: he'd made her an offer, standing and staying calm in the face of her anger. _I will confide in you. Let me return your trust and your friendship. _

She felt a kind of nervous anticipation: there was a new sense of trust between herself and Gohan, they'd been straight with each other for the first time.

As they made their way through a hole in the school walls, her mind was busy. She thought over her friendship with him, and came to a new understanding of it all. She'd hadn't ever really wanted to make a distance between them; either way, he'd closed it now.

She was leading the way. They had to stay off the main road out from the school, because teachers had been known to wait there and ambush people cutting class. So it was along a back street and through a run-down residential area they went, ending up in a tree-lined avenue that led to a park of the kind used only by bored teenagers and unimaginative dog-walkers. A single bench sat at one end of the small field, a slide and see-saw within a fence at the other. Gohan overtook her and took a seat on the bench.

He looked up at her, serious.

She felt an indecision that surprised her. He looked like he was struggling for words, all tense and nervous, and she half-wanted to say "don't worry about it," and that she didn't mind. Half of her did, though: she couldn't think of anything that was suspicious about him other than that he lied and apparently lived too far away for school to be practical. And this was something important, the mystery secret he was keeping: something so important he'd lie when his nature was an honest one. She was curious.

He gestured to the bench, and she sat down, tucking her hair behind her ears and looking at him. She couldn't decide what to say, but he started speaking first.

"Videl, um..." he looked down at his knees, then after a long few seconds back at her: "Let me tell you something about the Cell Games. It is to do with what I'm explaining, just, promise me you'll listen to everything I have to say, right?"

Slowly, Videl nodded.

"Um. I-"

The Cell Games had been unexpected: Videl had been thrown. But only temporarily, and as Gohan started speaking and stopped again before a full word had escaped, she reached her own conclusions.

"My father didn't defeat Cell... and Son Goku was at that tournament, and you share his name!"

He looked like a rabbit in the headlights for a second, and she was so amazed at herself and that his secret was something like this that she burst out laughing at him: Gohan knew the secrets to a conspiracy. And...

Slowly, more facts rose to her mind. He didn't just _know_ something, he...

"And you... you're the right age to have been that Delivery Boy."

He nodded. He seemed to keep doing that.

She'd probably been staring at him just as much, though, and that probably looked equally silly. What did it matter?

Gohan spoke, low-voiced: "My father and I defeated Cell... but dad... was killed. The thing is," (and he started the next sentence rapidly, as if he was trying to chase the word_ killed_ out of his mouth) "the reasons we could fight him effectively is because we've learnt thing other people haven't: the use of ki. Ki's essentially life energy, and what Mr. Satan called light tricks were attacks that used it. But... my father and a few other people – and me – are naturally better at using these skills because..."

He trailed off. Videl took the time to assimilate the information he'd given her. There were suddenly lots of questions in her mind, but if she interrupted Gohan he might not keep talking.

"...We're not exactly... Human."

That knocked the questions right out of her head: "What?!"

And Gohan gave her a stumbling explanation of the Saiyan race and his father's arrival. By the time he'd finished it, she'd suspended disbelief, and she thought up questions about the stange-looking martial artist Piccolo that lead Gohan on to the story of Namek and then on to his training as a child. He talked for a long time.

* * *

Videl listened. Gohan had been terrified: he'd worried that she'd be angry to hear the truth about her father, or that she wouldn't believe him, or that she'd be horrified he was descended from a race of planet-destroying thugs. But – she was sitting quite calmly, now, head on one side and half-watching the children at the other end of the park while still paying attention to him. She'd stopped staring now. Of course, she was still amazed by what he'd said, but she was engaging with it: she asked some questions about the technologies behind space travel intelligent enough to need everything he'd learned from Bulma as a response.

The Dragonballs and the miscellaneous improbable stories involved with them took until lunchtime to be explained. About then, he decided that was enough. And he remembered the only thing other than his being an alien that she'd literally been stunned by. He made a plan.

Turning to face her fully, Gohan asked: "Videl?"

"Mm?"

"You know, if we're not going back to school... I could do with some lunch."

She frowned, half-amused at the typically abrupt change of subject. He always did this.

"Tch, always hungry. I could almost believe this whole thing is your elaborate excuse for being greedy."

Gohan laughed. Everything seemed light and happy today, now that he'd told his story. Everything was optimistic.

And Videl's fond mockery was beautiful too: her expression lit her face up, too: her blue eyes were clear and sharp and her skin was bright in the sun.

"I guess I'll buy you lunch, then, for entertaining me." Her grin showed off white teeth, and she whispered: "if only because I'm a feminist."

He pretended to consider it, and she hit him playfully: "alien or not, Son Gohan, I'll kick your ass for bad manners."

"No, really, I was going to suggest something else..." A pause, during which his attempts to keep a straight face made him smirk: "Want proof I can fly?"

* * *

And so it was that Videl met Gohan's family, only _nearly_ getting dropped to the ground by her escort on the way there. Chichi loved her future daughter-in-law, recognising as she did a fellow intelligent sharp-tongued female, and one she'd be proud to teach the art of the frying-pan knock-out. (She only even made one comment to the pair asking if they should still be in school, which to her son spoke of an affection stronger than love itself). Goten was less immediately welcoming, but he noticed the girl visitor distracted his brother often enough for him to sneak away to the cookie jar unnoticed, and that convinced him to like her.

And Videl... something in her mind recognised the place that would become her second home.

She wasn't sure what she felt about the rest of it. Gohan was clever and a good friend and nice despite his dorky attitude, and she really did like him. But this whole story: The Saiyajinn race and the Dragonballs, the fighting and threats to the world, the deaths and resurrections of loved ones. It shook her world-view. If someone else had told her anything like that at another time, someone who she trusted less and who'd cared less whether she believed them, then she'd have laughed. If she hadn't known her dad too well to believe he'd defeated Cell, she would probably not even have believed Gohan.

But Gohan couldn't lie, so she took him at his word. He'd earned that much respect from her, he'd listened to her screaming accusations. She'd give his crazy stories a chance. The idea of aliens who were stronger than a human could hope to be wasn't easy for her to accept: she'd always believed success was what you made it, and those who failed did so through their own faults. The idea these Saiyans could come to Earth and conquer all of it was novel and vaguely terrifying. And her friend being half-alien was almost harder to accept: but Gohan had been quite sincere in what he told her, and the very fact his lies were so obvious made her less inclined to doubt him now she knew the truth.

She'd think about it. Sure there was a lot to consider, but she knew Gohan better now. She was pretty sure he'd wait and listen to her and chat about school along the way. The two of them would have plenty of time together.

* * *

_fin._

* * *

Author's Note:

Aww... and a big shiny sign saying happily-ever-after goes here :)

I'd like to say thanks to everyone who's reviewed, and that I hope the ending lives up to your expectations. Some of you have written the most thoughtful, friendly, inspiring reviews I've ever got, and I really do appreciate it. Well, thank you all very much, and I hope everyone's enjoyed the story!!


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